This Week at the Historic Lewes Farmers Market

“Pollination occurs when pollen is moved within flowers or carried from one flower to another of the same species by birds, bees, bats, butterflies, moths, beetles, other animals, or by the wind. This transfer leads to fertilization and successful seed and fruit production. Pollination ensures that a plant will produce full-bodied fruit and a complete set of fertile seeds, capable of germinating.”-The Pollinator Partnership

Hello friends and welcome to the Historic Lewes Farmers Market this Saturday, June 20. June 22-28 is National Pollinator Week. So, of course, the Market this Saturday is going to be all about bees. (The Lewes Garden Tour is also this Saturday, and is a good tie-in.) Do you know how vital pollination is to our survival? 80% of the world’s crops depend on pollination, and pollinators are also essential to the fibers and medicines we use. So next time you want to swat a bee or dust or spray your garden with synthetic insecticides, pause, and think it through. Be kind to bees, bats, and butterflies, and if you happen to have a bee, bat, bird, or other pollinator costume, feel free to wear it to the Market this Saturday to help celebrate!

Bees Are in Trouble
During the winter of 2006-2007, some beekeepers reported unusually high losses of 30-90% of their hives. Close to 50% of the losses were inconsistent with any known cause of honeybee death. There was a sudden loss of a colony’s worker bees. The queen and the brood (young) remained, and the colonies had abundant honey and pollen reserves, but a hive cannot survive without worker bees. To find out more go to “Pesticide Issues in the Works: Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder,” and “Solving the Mystery of the Vanishing Bees.”
The Contest
Well, our numbers are S-L-O-W-L-Y rising in our campaign to become the American Idol of the Farmers Market World. For those of you who don’t know about this, American Farmland Trust is sponsoring the first ever America’s Favorite Farmers Market Contest. Farmer’s market customers across the country will cast their vote for the best farmers market, and we want the Historic Lewes Farmers Market to be in the running. One large, medium, and small farmers market will win the title of America’s Favorite Farmers Market in 2009. We have registered the HLFM to be in the contest. Please go to America’s Favorite Farmers Market Contest (you will need to enter City and State (Lewes, DE) or our zip code (19958) and vote for the Historic Lewes Farmers Market. If you experience trouble voting this way, click on the quick and easy way to cast your vote in red above the map.

Please get on your computer and vote. Someone asked me last Saturday what prize we will receive when we win. It’s mostly about the name recognition, as our Market would get national news coverage. We also get a shipment of “No Farms No Food” tote bags to give out to our customers (not sure how many).
What’s at Market this Saturday:

The very popular Children’s Reading Program at the Market takes place 9-10 am every Saturday at the School House at the Lewes Historical Society Complex. Maureen Miller, Children’s Librarian from our very own Lewes Public Library, reads the stories and interacts with the kids to plant seeds, make flowers out of tissue paper and pipe cleaners, and do lots of other fun projects. I was helping out a bit last week during the hour, and let me tell you, Maureen is like a rock star to the kids. For ages 3 to 8, but all children are welcome and encouraged to attend with their parents. Each week a special book is chosen to reflect the themes of growth, change and healthy eating. In keeping with our celebration of the bee, this week the featured book is Ant and Honey Bee: What a Pair by Megan McDonald.

Pollinator Demonstrations: At 9:30 am, the Bee Buzzness really gets going. Faith B. Kuehn, Ph.D., from the Delaware Department of Agriculture (DDA), brings a pack of folk to the market to do different pollinator demonstrations until noon. Dr. Kuehn is involved in a very important project to catalog native bees in Delaware’s vegetable production areas, and she works with farmers to establish bee conservation practices on their farms. There will be a display about the “Farming for Native Bees” project, and the many bees native to Delaware – diggers, greens, bumbles, etc. They will also be showcasing Native Bee Condos built to celebrate this week. One condo will be installed at the DDA, the other at Woodburn, the Governor’s Mansion in Dover. The condos were designed and built by DDA staff for cavity-nesting bees such as orchard bees. They are constructed of wood from Delaware forests and materials recycled from DDA’s Pollinator Garden, so you know you will want to see those. Although bees are the main focus, there will also be a display of native and exotic butterflies. Please review your bee facts, as they will be quizzing shoppers on their knowledge of Pollinator trivia (and we want a good showing from our Market customers). The Delaware Beekeeper’s Association will have an observation hive of honeybees, and they will do a show-and-tell of with tools of the beekeeping trade. Beekeepers will be on hand to talk with Market visitors about the joys and importance of beekeeping. The Dover 4-H will also be joining the beekeepers with their display of beekeeping projects.

Backyard Jams & Jellies: Winner of Best in State for Softspreads (Jellies and Jams), and seven First Place Ribbons at the 2008 Delaware State Fair. Jams featured this Saturday: Spiced Cranberry Jam, Bing Cherry Jelly (new), Strawberry Jam & Jelly, Strawberry Rhubarb and Rhubarb Jam, Peach Jam and Jelly, Pear Jam, Blueberry Jam and Blueberry Peach Jam, Raspberry Jam and Peach Raspberry Jam, Mint Jelly, Blackberry Jam and Jelly, the ever popular Beach Plum Jelly (which she sampling this Saturday), Red and Green Hot Pepper Jelly, Peach Hot Pepper Jelly (great with cream cheese and crackers or as a glaze for chicken, pork, or fish) and Mango Hot Pepper Jelly (great substitute for tartar sauce on crabcakes). If you are looking for fresh fruit spreads with no sweeteners, she will have 3 no sugar jams as well-Peach, Blueberry, Mixed Berry.

Bella’s Cookies: It’s the last week for fresh Strawberry baked goods, and from the fields at Fifer Orchards. At the Market you will find fresh Strawberry Crumb cakes (delicious for breakfast), fresh Strawberry Pies (these are mini/personal pies and each contain 1 lb of strawberries), fresh Strawberry muffins, fresh Strawberry sweet bread, Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits and Strawberry Hot Cinnamon Buns. Hot-from-the-oven buns arrive at the market around 8:30 on Saturday morning and will be topped with a fresh Strawberry glaze (reserve yours or a group amount by calling ahead of Saturday). For cookies: there will be two Agave (Low-Gylcemic, suitable for diabetics) cookies – Oatmeal Raisin and a new Pecan Sandie, two new Gluten-Free cookies – Oatmeal and Gingersnaps (also in Gluten-Free is Chocolate Chunk/Coconut Macaroons/and Chocolate Brownies). Three varieties of Breakfast Cookies are available for those looking for a high protein and fiber, low fat, low calorie treat – Lemon Blueberry/Raisin Spice/and freshly made Pumpkin Cranberry. Traditional cookies will include the Yin-Yang, Choco-Bomb, Peanut Butter Power, Champion Chunk, the Woo-Woo, Sun Dollars and more. Holding a special event this weekend? Delight everyone with one of Bella’s custom desserts: Delaware Rum Cakes, Summerberry Cakes (with fresh pastry cream and fresh strawberries), Chocolate Mocha Cake, Coco-Carrot Cake, and their signature Key West, Key Lime pie, topped with fresh whipped cream. All are made with natural and organic and locally sourced ingredients. Call ahead and have your dessert ready for pickup when you arrive at the market–302-684-8152.

Chapel’s Country Creamery: Chapel’s produces artisanal cheeses made with milk from their herd of Jersey and Holstein cows. All of the milk is free of synthetic hormones, antibiotics and chemical compounds. They will bring a Talbot Reserve, a cheddar aged over a year with a bloomy rind-complex, creamy, with a nice sharpness. (Bloomy rind cheeses can be made of cow, goat or sheep milk. These are cheeses that are soft and creamy, and are covered with a snowy rind of white mold). Other cheeses from Chapel’s: Garlic and Chive Cheddar, and Crab Spice Cheddar. In July they will bring fresh yogurt and milk

Chesapeake Bay Farm: Fresh local cow’s milk gourmet cheeses including a fabulous Gouda. Gourmet ice cream (hand-dipped cones and pints–the peach ice cream is to die for). Churned butter-salted and unsalted. Homemade truffles. All products are made from milk with no added hormones from grass fed cows from Worcester County’s only dairy farm.

Cleckner Farm: Fresh, free range eggs and all natural (no antibiotics, growth stimulants, animal proteins, etc.) and USDA inspected chicken broilers. The broilers are large roasters weighing between 5 and 8 lbs-perfect for a large family or small dinner party. The free-range brown eggs will be available in a number of sizes, and in Â½ and whole dozen packages.

Davidson Exotic Mushrooms: Portabellas, Shiitake, Crimini, and Oyster mushrooms, as well as mixes of all three or mixes of Shiitake and Crimini. They will offer samples of grilled portabellas (as long as they last), and will feature a sample mushroom dish with recipe each week.

Down to Earth Organic Farm: Green Beans. Beets. Yellow Wax Beans. Arugula. Radishes. Scallions. Beets and Greens. Yellow Crookneck Squash. Zucchini. Swiss Chard. Down to Earth does not use any pesticides, and only uses fish emulsion, compost, and compost tea to fertilize-no animal by-products are used. Farm is transitioning to being Certified Organic.

Eggs of a Feather: Bill will have plenty of his colorful free range farmstead chicken eggs from rare and heritage chicken breeds. He will also have some hard-to-find Blue Swedish and Khaki Campbell duck eggs. The pheasants are slowing their production now, but there will be a few of their delicate attractive little eggs, as well as some miniature chicken eggs. Guest chicken this week will be three-year-old white Bantam hen that has Silkie and English Game breeds in her heritage. She is exceptionally human-friendly. Come by and welcome her to the Market.

Fifer Orchards: “Catalina” strawberries. “Earliblue” blueberries. Fresh, tender shelled peas. Crisp heads of cabbage. Beets, scallions, spinach, radishes, cucumbers, and tomatoes. A variety of cut flowers (Snapdragons, Zinnias, Ageratum, Celosia, Salvia, and Sweet William). Their own local honey. They want to thank everyone who attended their Farm to Table dinner on June 13 held at their farm, prepared and served by Nage Restaurant.

Hattie’s Garden: More arugula this week, and a good mixture of young loose leaf lettuces-some with arugula and some with just lettuces. She takes great care with these greens-they are triple-washed, bagged, and kept on ice so that they will last a week after you buy them. She will also have mini-cabbages, young beets with greens, young carrots, scallions, Swiss chard, patty pan squash and newly dug Fingerling potatoes. Fresh-cut herbs: dill, flat and curly parsleys, sage, and oregano. Hattie will also have heirloom and hybrid tomato plants, eggplant and pepper plants, and a host of herb plants including basil.

Kogler’s Old World Breads: Handcrafted and baked in an artisan bakery in Ellendale, DE. Beginning with the finest ingredients: King Arthur Flour, filtered water, yeast and salt. Each item is hand formed to create the delicate textures, flavors, and golden crust reminiscent of European breads. There will be French baguettes, sourdough loaves, Italian loaves, country loaves, brioche hamburger buns, Focaccia, rye boule, cinnamon loaves and cinnamon shorties (a real treat with quite a dedicated following).

Lavender Fields: Everything lavender can be found here. This Saturday– freshly cut bunches of Hidcote English Lavender (fill your house with the smell of fresh lavender). Lavender soap is back in stock, as well as Bug Away. Regular lavender products include preserves, jams and jellies, Herbs de Provence, lavender infused honey, culinary lavender, lavender and rose tea, and lavender bath and body products. It is still a good time to plant new lavender plants in your landscape, and plants will be available.

Lucky Penny Produce & Flowers: Lucky Penny is bringing their beautiful cans of summer flowers and bouquets. Summer flowers include Benary Giant Zinnias, Amaranthus, and Ageratum. Also, there will be a limited supply of radishes, greens, and Mojito Mint.

Olivia’s Bread’s & Alden’s Dessert’s: The breads and other baked goods that Olivia’s brings are made with organic flours that are unbleached and unbromated. They also use natural and organic produce from local farmers and businesses. They believe in using green products and supporting Fair Trade producers. They are known for working with those who have special dietary restrictions or food allergies. To celebrate their new son’s arrival, they have named their dessert line after him-Alden’s Dessert’s. Call ahead if you have a special order for market pick-up: 302-424-4395. Each Saturday, they will bring specialty items. Customer requested treats and delights will be at the market this weekend, and Olivia’s enjoys getting special requests and bringing them to market.

Rainbow Farm: Lilies in all shapes and colors–Oriental, Asiatic, and LA hybrids. Colors are pink, red, yellow, two-tone, and orange. Some have fragrance, and some not. Lilies are available as cut-flowers and in bouquets. They are florist quality, and bouquets will last at least a week, and maybe more. If you bring your favorite vase, they will fill it for you, or you can purchase lily plants that they dig up right there at the Market for you to take home and plant. They also have beautiful containers of Japanese Painted Ferns and hostas to accompany them (for the shaded garden). If you’re a regular shopper at the market, and would like to place a standing order for lilies, you may do that as well.

Seaberry Farm: Seaberry Farm offers a selection of landscape trees and shrubs that are hardy in Delaware. Do you have a wet spot in your landscape, or do you need a fast growing screen for summer patio privacy? Willows might be the answer. While not limited to wet soil, willows will thrive in these conditions. This week Seabury offers two willows: Curly willow or Hankow willow has upright curly branches, which have become a mainstay in the florist trade. In the landscape the graceful curls make a great conversation piece and the plant can produce a fast growing screen. It is more drought tolerant than most willows and has been shown to be salt tolerant. White willow or Silver willow, Salix alba ‘Sericea’ has leaves with an intense silvery hue, can grow 3-4 feet a year and becomes a large tree. Both of these species can be pruned heavily annually to produce lush high quality foliage to form hedges or produce the plant form you need for your landscape.

Surf Bagel: The best bagels south of Brooklyn hot from the oven! Grab a bagel and a coffee and tour the Market. Bagels are available at the HLFM Table. Six varieties-plain, sesame, cinnamon-raisin, poppy, multi-grain, and everything.

Sussex Consortium: Purple broccoli, spinach, cabbages, and cilantro.

(Please note that the following vendors will be at market when their produce is in season: Bennett Orchards and Fischers’ Farm. Paradise Orchards will not be at the Market this year as they lost their peach flowers in a storm.)

Please Put on Your Calendar:
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The 19th Annual Lewes Garden Tour from 10am to 5pm (rain or shine). We all know that Lewes has some of the most beautiful, lush, private gardens in the state, many of them quietly tucked away behind houses. Well, this is our chance to get into those backyards without scaling the fences, and marvel at the diversity of the gardens and green thumbs of the owners. Tickets are $15 in advance, or $20 the day of the tour, and can be purchased at the Lewes Chamber of Commerce, 120 Kings Highway in the Fisher Martin-House. For more information call (302)645-8073 or go to www.leweschamber.com.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Lewes Summer Concert Series at Stango Park, 111 Adams Ave., Lewes, DE, features the Navy Commodores at 7pm. (You can pick up a refrigerator magnet with all of the concert dates at the Lewes Chamber.)

Our official HLFM 2009 Market Tote is a Therm-O-Tote–a sturdy tote with an insulated inside to keep produce cool while you shop. There is a zipper closure, dual reinforced 20″ carrying handles, and plastic bottom insert. Measuring 13″w x 10 x 15″h, this earth-friendly bag contains 20% post-industrial recycled content and is reusable. The HLFM store poster graphic appears on one side of the tote with the logo: Historic Lewes Farmers Market-Where Being Fresh is Socially Acceptable. How can you resist? You can get one, two, or more at the HLFM table for a $10 donation to the Market, and be stylin’ for the whole summer.
The Book Table at the Market
We have an entire table at the Market devoted to great reading about sustainable and organic farming, preserving fruits and vegetables, gardening, and more. If you want a great cookbook, copies of Michael Pollan’s books, or books for your kids to teach them about preserving our natural resources, then you need to check out the table. All the books are donated to the HLFM, and we sell them at bargain prices so that we can spread the word about eating locally, making Delaware farmland more sustainable, and much more. Check it out.
Goodbye Bottled Water: We do not sell bottled water at the Market. Instead, we provide cold, local water from a jug at the HLFM table, so you can refill your own water bottle at our table. We also have paper cups available.
Did you know that the Historic Lewes Farmers Market has a bookshelf at the Lewes Public Library? You will find all of the books on eating well locally and sustainability that we feature on our website, plus many other titles related to these issues on the HLFM shelf. We donate new titles as we find them. If you have a suggestion for a title related to the HLFM mission to educate the public about sustainable food systems that are environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially responsible, please send the information our way by emailing us:
historiclewesfarmersmarket@comcast.net.
WE’RE STILL LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN AND WOMEN. WE NEED A FEW FOLKS WITH MUSCLE TO HELP WITH:
Setup: 7-8 am
Breakdown: 11:45-12:30
Please call Denise Poslusny, our Volunteer Coordinator at 644-1965 or email her at deeposney@hotmail.com
About those dogs we love so much. We really do want to welcome dogs at our market, but we are aware that some dogs do not like to be in crowds or are not people or dog friendly. If this describes your pet, we ask you to leave him or her at home. If you bring your dog, please watch him/her carefully, and have the dog under control at all times so that we do not have to ask you to leave the market with your pet.

For other information about the market go to www.historiclewesfarmersmarket.org.

Send your comments and questions to us at historiclewesfarmersmarket@comcast.net.

The market is open rain or shine. See you at market!
-Helaine Harris for the Historic Lewes Farmers Market